Kicking His Rear End
by Seul Loup
Summary: Prequel to 'To Face The Enemy'. Aila is just a regular punk teen, with a horrible older brother. So, of course, she wishes him away. But heres the catch- can older sibling be taken away? Could she be denied? Not if Aila has anything to do with it.
1. Chapter 1

Okidoki, this is the first chapter of the prequel to my first fic, To Face the Enemy. Those of you who haven't read it, I recommend you read it. To those who have, this is Aila's background. Here's some base facts: she lives in the same house Sarah does in the movie. Aila is sixteen, and her older brother, John, Sarah's dad, is twenty-four and currently going out with Linda, Sarah's mum. He lives in his own place but comes home often (much to Aila's disgust, as you who have read TFTE would imagine!)   
  
Disclaimer: The setting, some ppl's names, and of course the Underground belong to Jim Henson's production. Aila kicks ass through me, and a few other ppl are locked away in five-star cells in my head (complimentary cinema-screen tvs available with every cell). The plot was also created through my striving-to-be-genius-but-not-getting-too-far mind, *takes bow, amidst rotten tomatoes*.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Bye Mr. Cullen!" Aila called as she tumbled out of the beat-up red pick-up truck. Well, you couldn't really call it red. There were stains, scratches, and the odd dent or two that hid a lot of the redness. But if you looked hard enough, you could see the paint. Mr. Cullen waved politely, while Rhys, who was sixteen like Aila, shouted things at her with a silly grin on his face until she couldn't hear him anymore. She wouldn't dare repeat any of those things to her parents, though. Too rude. Aila threw up a finger after him, quickly checking to see that her mother wasn't peering out of the window. The girl slung her backpack over one shoulder and lodged her skateboard under the other arm, then headed inside. After dumping her stuff upstairs, she peeked into the livingroom, where the tv was roaring. And groaned out loud.   
  
"John, what the hell are you doing here?" She hissed in his ear. The twenty-four year old man, nicely dressed and polite-looking, jumped. He had been too engrossed in his program to hear her. But now, a cheeky grin crossed his face and Aila was barely able to dodge a hand that snuck towards her nose in an effort to wrench it around.  
  
"There you are, miss skater girl. I just popped in to say a quick hello, and got stuck waiting for you while the old fogies went to Mary's for tea," he said, managing to get in a quick pinch before she whipped her arm out of reach. Aila glared.  
  
"When will they be back?" She scowled.  
  
"Well past your bed-time, dear sister. What do you want for tea? There's leftover lasagna, leftover lasagna, or nothing," John turned back to the set as her scowl deepened.  
  
"You know very well I don't have a bed-time, and I don't have a curfew either. And what happened to the enchiladas Mum froze from yesterday's tea?" She asked, twisting his ear painfully before darting away. John gulped in air and burped loudly at her, grinning.  
  
"You ate them? I should have known. Pigs can't resist enchiladas. In that case, I'm going out. If I'm lucky you won't see me tomorrow," she called angrily, turning and pounding up the stairs. Army-style camouflage pants and a worn, raggedly black shirt that if her mother got her hands on it would be in the rag pile, were thrown on. School shoes were traded for sneakers, her favorite cap shoved on backwards, and fingerless gloves pulled onto hands that stuffed her knapsack with house keys, wallet, cell phone and a gameboy. She threw the pack on her back, then thundered downstairs again.  
  
"Hey wait, where're you going?" John called from the porch as Aila retrieved her bike from the garage. For her sixteenth birthday, she had received a top-of the range mountain bike, with the promise she would be allowed to get a proper motorcycle next birthday. The same promise had been given to her last year. And there was of course the condition of flying pigs showing their faces...  
  
"Out, I told you. I'll get takeout for tea. Smell you later, butt-wipe!" She pedaled hard down the street, conveniently forgetting her helmet, face raised to the breeze in the dying sunlight. (OOC: Ok peeps, I'm sorry about this, but I might get some things mixed up here. You see, I live in Australia, and this I think is set in England. So you have to excuse me if I make some mistakes, k?) Her first stop was a burger joint, then the park where she bagged a swing for herself from the little kids to tease them with her greasy cheeseburger. One lucky tot got the pickle, and a cute boo with big brown eyes scored a few fries, but other than that it was Aila's pigout. Sucking on her strawberry shake, she gave in to a frazzled mother who wanted to give her brat a ride on the swing, and moved to a bench.  
  
"Lucky little buggers," she muttered around the plastic straw.  
  
"Get all the freedom and innocence they want," she closed her eyes, tilting her head back to catch the evening breeze. Aila Williams, hopefully to be changed to Aila Keil in the near future, might be a rebellious teenage skater girl, but all she really wanted was freedom. Freedom from school rules. Freedom from her parents. And definitely freedom from that cow-butt brother John. Suddenly, the girl had an idea. She sat up and grabbed her bike, slam-dunking the empty shake in a near-by bin and racing out of the park. Her eyes were shining with glee as she pedaled towards home, and inside her mind was set on one thing. She knew how to get rid of John, once and for all!  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
So? How's that for the first chapter? Reviews plz people! Tell me what you think!  
  
Sweet Sunshine,   
  
Seul Loup  
  
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* Fancy yourself as a writer? *  
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* Want to win prizes for your stories and poems? *  
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* Corey's Place - this is for you! *  
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* http://feanorbirmans.ozefamily.com.au/coreys_place/ *  
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	2. Chapter 2

Aila quietly left her bike in the garage and climbed up the tree next to her window. She slid over the sill and tried not to make too much noise as she landed with a thump on the rug. Her knapsack was abandoned on the bed as she tiptoed over to her desk and rummaged around in the junk that was dumped on top of it.   
  
"I swear I put it here..." she muttered, swiping at a Maths text, which fell to the floor with a thud. Aila winced, and grabbed the little red book that the offending text had uncovered.  
  
"Hey punk, is that you?" Her brother called up the stairs. He must have heard the thud.  
  
"No, it's the faeries," she muttered darkly, flipping through the pages. Her time was running out. She could hear John coming up the staircase. Where were the words? Aila threw the book onto her bed in frustration and almost leapt out of the window. She shimmied down the tree and hid in the bushes at the bottom.   
  
"I wish the goblins would take him away right now," the girl growled. A cold breeze crept over her, and she cursed, balling her hands and curling them into her stomach. Darn winter. But wait... wasn't it spring? Aila shook her head and waited awhile more, then cautiously climbed back up the tree and peered over the windowsill. No John. She slipped inside and turned to shut the curtains, but froze. Her blood ran cold, and her hands started to shake like they always did when strong emotions threatened her. This strong feeling was shock. Because, leaning casually against the window frame, was...  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Dum dum dum... *music plays*. Well? Did you like it? *throws shoe at stereo, and music shuts up*. If you did, REVIEW!  
  
And by the way, this is an interlude. Bigger chapter comes next. But only if you review!!  
  
Sweet Sunshine  
  
Seul Loup  
  
********************************************************  
* Fancy yourself as a writer? *  
* *  
* Want to win prizes for your stories and poems? *  
* *  
* Corey's Place - this is for you *  
* *  
* http://feanorbirmans.ozefamily.com.au/coreys_place/ *  
******************************************************** 


	3. Chapter 3

Greetings, fellow Earthlings! *everyone turns to look at Green Alien; crickets chirp. Green Alien shuffles away sniffling* Okay, now that he's gone...  
  
Third chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Ahem, let me rephrase that:  
  
ALL HAIL REDAURA. Thank you very much, Redaura, for reviewing!   
  
Just in case you forgot, here's the last bit of chapter 2:  
"Her blood ran cold, and her hands started to shake like they always did when strong emotions threatened her. This strong feeling was shock. Because, leaning casually against the window frame, was..."  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was him, the one from the red book. Aila shoved her hands behind her back and glared him straight in the eye.  
  
"Have you come to take John away?" She asked. Jareth, Goblin King, smirked.  
  
"Maybe," he said. Aila frowned. That wasn't what the book had said...  
  
"Can you take him away?" She tried again. There came that smirk again. The girl's hands, calming down, itched to slap it away like a cockroach on the kitchen counter.  
  
"That all depends..." he stepped forward; she stepped back.   
  
"On what?" Aila asked warily. She didn't trust him one bit. And that made him the perfect person to pawn her brother off on.  
  
"On how much you want him gone," the tall man regarded her carefully. She suddenly felt self conscious of her scruffy appearance against his disdainful majesty.  
  
"What do I have to do to make you take him?" Aila tried to squash the sense of foreboding she felt upon speaking those words, but failed. The Goblin King grinned, and suddenly she had to squash the urge to laugh as well. Every facial expression of his so far looked like a smirk. Great Sun, couldn't he manage anything else?  
  
"Funny you should ask," was his reply. Aila, puzzled, turned to look where he pointed.  
  
"If you really want to get rid of your brother, make your way through the labyrinth and up to that castle," suddenly she was standing on a dusty hill, looking over a stone and hedge maze.   
  
"Why can't you just get rid of him now?" She growled, looking over her shoulder at the man lazing against a dead tree. There was a clock hanging on one branch, and he pointed to it.  
  
"You have thirteen hours to reach the castle, Aila. Reach the castle and your freedom," he slowly faded out, along with the clock. She stomped one foot, then both. He hadn't answered her question. And where had he gotten that clock? She wanted one. And there was another thing bugging her - how had he known that she valued freedom most of all? Aila punched the tree where he'd been standing with a fist, then doubled over cursing silently. Someone had made that tree as hard as stone, and it sure wasn't Mother Nature. She scowled again and started jogging down the hill. Aila had two people that got on her nerves now - her brother and that annoying King of Goblins.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Hey peeps, those of you who're reading this story and liking it are gonna be disappointed. But here's the deal: I have no more ideas for this fic! So sorry!   
  
But, tell you what I'm gonna do. I'll put all the stuff I have into this chapter, and post it. If you wanna know more after you've read it all, read my first fic To Face The Enemy.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The sixteen-year-old Aila pelted pell-mell down one of the Labyrinth's many paths, and skidded to a halt in front of one turn, turning into it and racing forwards again. She was almost there: the castle! A few times she'd taken wrong turns or taken advice from beings that lived here, and luckily had skirted around the Bog of Eternal Stench. She'd caught a whiff of it though, and never wanted to smell the likes of it again! The girl was approaching the back gates of the castle. The last twelve and a half hours had been torture, with her running a lot of the way. She'd had to take an indirect route to escape the Bog, and it had cost her a couple of hours. Aila trotted up to the gate, panting quietly. The guard was snoozing, and she was able to slip through the doors unnoticed, but was met by five goblin guards on ugly half-dragon things. She braced herself as the first one charged, and skipped back to avoid his spear. Once the shaft was past her, she pounced on the goblin's back and dealt him a blow to the head that knocked him out. Aila grabbed the spear and leapt on the ugly half-dragon's back, gripping it's hair like she'd seen the goblins do, and whirled it to face the others, brandishing the weapon.  
  
"Anyone else wanna try?" She yelled. They slowly backed away, then when she charged them, they turned and bolted. Aila grinned menacingly and kicked her new mount into a fast pace, heading for the castle. She'd better get there before Jareth found out she'd reached the city, or he'd probably send a whole horde of those things out to get her. Aila leapt off the thing's back when she reached the door to the palace, and dropped her spear to push at the heavy wood-and-chain slabs. No luck. She stepped away, puffing, and spotted her weapon. Aila picked it up and brandished it at the doors.  
  
"Jareth, I know you can hear me. Lemme in!" She cried, and waited.  
  
"Goblin Butt, you stink like hell!" She screamed, and waited again.  
  
"If you don't let me in, I'll-"  
  
"You'll do what?" A mocking voice asked behind her. Aila whipped around and scowled fiercely; it was Jareth.  
  
"I'll think of something. Now will you take John away?" She said calmly, bracing the butt of her spear on her foot. He smirked, and the castle doors opened.  
  
"Find me, and I might," he faded out. Aila scowled again, running inside.  
  
"That's not fair!" She shrieked.  
  
"You say that so often..." a whisper drifted on the wind past her ear. The girl whipped around, but no one was there. She dropped the weapon and started racing up the stairs, taking turn after turn, chasing his whispers. After awhile she stopped, puffing, and looked around. Hadn't she just passed that stone gargoyle a minute ago? Aila grimaced. He was leading her in circles. Suddenly she had a plan. She started running again, and the next time she heard a whisper down one passageway, she took a different one. The next whisper came, and the girl did the same. Son she saw different scenery, and his whispers grew louder. At last she ran through a passageway and came out into a large chamber. There were stairs everywhere, even on the ceiling!   
  
"Come find me!" The wind-whisper said. Aila gulped, and leapt down one flight of stairs. Atop the next flight he stood, hands on hips and a mocking grin on his face. She called out triumphantly, but when she got to the top, he was standing over the other side of the room.  
  
"Hey, that's not fair! I found you, you're supposed to stay put!" She yelled at him.  
  
"There was nothing said about me staying put. Come get me, Aila!" He faded out. The girl almost screamed in fury, and started racing up and down staircases, chasing his image. And all the while, she could see a clock, on every wall, and they were all ticking ever closer to the hour. She had one minute.  
  
"Jareth, you bum-wipe, you're horrible!" Aila shrieked when her legs cramped. But she kept running, ignoring the pain. It was no longer a matter of him taking John away, it was her desire to show him that she was not to be toyed with. She would win this game, she had to! Aila repeated that over and over in her head as she came ever closer to his fleeting image. At last she stood on a platform, and he was standing on another just below her, with folded arms and a smirk. Her legs started to head for the next flight of stairs, but Aila knew better. That would be giving him the chance to get away! She leapt off the platform, arms out-stretched, to bowl him over. But instead, the girl hit the floor face-first with a thump. She groaned and sat up, rubbing her nose.  
  
"There you are, Aila. What took you so long?" Jareth was standing in front of her, the same smirk on his face. She glared at him, standing slowly.  
  
"I won, cow-butt. I won!" She grinned, folding her own arms. That annoying smirk spread.  
  
"Ahh, but on partly. You see, I forgot to mention that the wishing only works when an older sibling wishes away a younger sibling," he grinned at her horrified face, and waved a hand, making the staircase setting dissolve. They were in the main room of his castle, and the room was filled with cackling goblins. They were laughing at her. Jareth lounged on his throne, grinning at her. Aila flew into a fury, and swung her foot out, kicking aside a goblin. She raced out the open door, intent on revenge. But what to do? The girl ran down one corridor after another, and on her way down one particular passage, she spotted something. There was an open door, and it led to and outdoor menagerie. Perfect! She trotted out there, pulling her pocketknife out. Now, what animals to release? There, in the corner cage... a dragon! The young Aila approached it carefully. The mystical being was big; the girl could lift an arm and only just brush the base of the wing. Of course, she didn't try this.  
  
"H-hello?" She whispered. One amber eye popped open, and the human was surveyed with amusement.  
  
"And why does such a small being come here? The only one that comes now is the White King, and he taunts me dreadfully," the dragon whispered, and Aila didn't know if it was talking to itself or her.  
  
"I- I come to ask for your help. Uhm... the White King, Jareth, cheated me. Would you help me get revenge?" She wondered at her stupidity, asking a dragon for help, but such things didn't seem so strange here. The dragon looked thoughtful.  
  
"Indeed, it would please me much to seek revenge for my imprisonment. He has cheated you, little human? That is inexcusable. Come, are you able to unlock my cage? I shall see what I can do to help you with your revenge," it said. Aila smiled, and stepped forward with her pocketknife, inserting it in the lock. After a few experimental twists, she expertly popped it open. A dozen bursts of glitter exploded around the cage, and she blinked. Jareth must have locked the thing magically. Well, that didn't matter now. The dragon lifted herself up to her full height, and the cage was tossed aside like a plaything.  
  
"I am Crystalwing, little one," the dragon said. It was a girl!  
  
"I'm Aila Williams, but I plan on changing my last name to Keil when I'm old enough," Aila said boldly. Crystalwing's eyes crinkled in laughter, and she strode forwards.  
  
"Follow me then, little Aila. We shall set a fire under the White King's tail," the dragon told her. The girl ran to keep up, and was soon aided by her new friend. Crystalwing carefully hooked a tooth around her belt, and lifted her up. Aila gasped happily, seeing the Labyrinth stretch before her. The dragon strode forward until they reached the green part of it, then she was set down.  
  
"Watch, youngling. Lets see how long it takes the White King to take notice of us," the dragon boomed. Aila watched in wonder as her new friend roared, breathing fire onto the nearest green wall. Half a kilometer of wall set on fire instantly, and soon they were almost surrounded. But it didn't worry Crystalwing. She hooked Aila's belt on her tooth again and jogged away, making the ground rumble. The girl had been set down and the dragon was about to start on another section when Jareth appeared, in a raging fury. His face was dark and twisted, and his fists were clenched.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" He yelled at her. Aila copied his previous smirk.  
  
"There you are, Jareth. What took you so long?" She mimicked him. He glared at her, and threw one of his crystals into the air. It burst into a torrent of water, streaming over the fire, the dragon, and the girl. All three were soaked. But the Goblin King stayed dry, not surprisingly.  
  
"Why in the Underground did you have to go and do a thing like that for? You could have destroyed the whole thing! Do you know how long it took me to make that Labyrinth?" He kept on raving angrily. Crystalwing snorted in amusement, then leant her long neck down near Aila, who had started to shiver in the breeze.  
  
"I shall escape back to my kingdom now, youngling. But I thank you greatly for letting me help you in the fun," the dragon whispered, and took flight. Aila watched her, shivering even more when the warmth of dragon had gone. Jareth barely glanced at the retreating dragon, and turned back to her.  
  
"You could have-" he stopped, seeing her shivering. Aila saw him come closer through a dim haze. So cold... she was so cold. The girl sneezed violently five times in a row, then felt something warm wrap around her shoulders. She looked up dumbly and met his mismatched eyes, so close.  
  
"You could have been trapped in the blaze," he whispered. Aila didn't say anything, just clutched the blanket closer, staring at him. Jareth put a hesitant hand under her chin, and leant forward. She felt his lips meet hers, and was jolted back to reality. The blanket fell around her ankles, and she shoved him away, trying to step back but getting tangled in the fallen blanket.  
  
"Don't *sneeze* don't you dare!" She cried, her voice croaking. He just stood there, watching her thrash around on the ground for a moment, then stepped forward again and gathered the bundle of Aila and blanket into his arms.  
  
"Come on, we've got to get you home," he said gruffly.  
  
"I'm going nowhere with you!" She shrieked, but they were already back in her room. He set her down on her bed and touched her forehead, and the last thing Aila remembered before she passed out was his mismatched eyes meeting hers.  
  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
That's all, folks. There is no more. Hope you liked what's there! And please keep reading and reviewing my works! If you know of any top fics, tell me, I'm always interested! whodat_13@hotmail.com  
Peace out  
  
Sweet Sunshine to all!  
  
Seul Loup 


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